Top Stories of 2004: Two SoCal Parishes Leave ECUSA, Align with Anglican Province in Africa

by Jim Brown and Jody Brown
December 30, 2004

(AgapePress) - Two biblically orthodox parishes in Southern California have dropped their affiliation with the Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA) and the Diocese of Los Angeles over the denomination's move away from scriptural authority and its stance on the role of homosexual clergy.

All Saints Church of Long Beach and St. James Church in Newport have aligned themselves with the worldwide Anglican Communion and are now under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Luweero, Anglican Province of Uganda. Rector William Thompson of All Saints says the Church of Uganda was the appropriate place to seek "safe harbor" from a denomination that has moved away from the teachings and the authority of scripture.

"For us at All Saints, we have over the years developed relationships with people in Uganda," Thompson explains. "We have sent short-term missionaries to Uganda; we have relationships supporting a public works project in southeast Uganda with a clergyman from the Church of Uganda there. I developed a friendship with Archbishop Henry Orombi [of the Church of Uganda]."

Thompson says his parish recognized that no matter what it did, the Episcopal Church USA was not going to repent of its support for homosexuality and other forms of heresy. He adds that the decision to leave is a "step of trust in Jesus Christ" -- and that his church does not fear a property dispute, a potential outcome of the decision.

"From our perspective ... they are our buildings; it was our money over the years that constructed them," he says. "The flow of money [historically] from the diocese has always been from us to them -- not the other way around. We feel that our property belongs to us."

The rector says he has no idea what some other entity might do from a legal standpoint regarding the issue of the property, but that the church is seeking to follow Christ no matter what the cost may be.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Father Praveen Bunyan of St. James explained that his church has been a long-time proponent of biblical orthodoxy. That is why, he says, many of his parishioners questioned him regularly about the church's continued affiliation with a denomination that has "departed from the authority of Scriptures."

The Times reports that in both cases, the vestries -- or board of directors -- of each parish voted unanimously to break from ECUSA, and that the parishioners backed those decisions overwhelmingly (131-10 at All Saints; 280-12 at St. James). Bunyan states that "many times" during the Monday night vote, members of his parish responded with great emotion, "in standing ovations, raising their hands, with tears rolling down their cheeks."

According to the LA Times, the move by the two parishes took Los Angeles Episcopal Bishop J. Jon Bruno by surprise. In a statement on the diocese's website, Bruno says he "had no warning of this taking place," and that he is "saddened" by the two parishes' unwillingness to discuss their plan with him before making their decision. He notes that he had made overtures to help the churches deal with any differences they felt with ECUSA.

"I have recently offered these two congregations, along with two others, the option of alternative pastoral oversight by an Episcopal bishop with whom they are in agreement," he says in the statement. "It was an option they declined."

Evidently Bruno does not feel the move by All Saints and St. James is a "done deal." His office, he says, still must determine the "validity" of the churches' action. "There are many matters to consider before these actions can be considered final," he states.